Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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men feared losing their women to him because he would visit them during the day while
their men were away at work. 196
This tale may also be the source for the current use of the name Jody in the armed forces
away on deployment. 197
Songs:
- Bo Carter (Armenter Chatmon)
- Memphis Slim (Peter Chatman)
- Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas)
G RI O T
African griots serve the same purpose as the bards and skalds of medieval European
courts once did. Griots keep and comment upon the history of the court. They are a
hereditary caste of singer-historians who keep the oral histories of families, tribes, and
dynasties. As Alan Lomax explained in The Land Where the Blues Began
198
are social satirists, whose ve
Some griots are employed by sultans, chiefs, or headmen, and can sing the history of the
professional groups, such as fishermen or butchers, and play songs praising the workers.
A village may have local griots who also work at trades, such as farming or fishing. The
most renowned griots are independent and travel around, leasing out their services.
The word griot comes from the French guiriot, which is probably derived from the
Portuguese criado, or servant. Criado comes from the Latin creatus, meaning one
brought up or trained. Griots are indeed brought up in the griot tradition by their fathers
and
traditional songs. A griot is required to sing on demand the history of a tribe or family for
seven generations and...to be familiar with the songs of ritual necessary to summon spirits
during his travels for Savannah Syncopators: African Retentions In The Blues 199 To be a
griot requires the development of an extraordinary memory. Griots hold not only the
history of the people, but their mythology and religious rites.
Among Mandingo people, griots are called jaliya, according to musicographer Samuel
Charters, who spent time with some jaliya in the Gambia River region in Senegal in the
late 1970s. The jaliya were very important to their tribes, Charters noted, because the
tribes did not use a written language to keep their histories. Other tribes known for their
griots are the Fula, which call them jelefo, and the Wolof, which call them katt (see
also cat).
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